Sexuality in the older adult

MK
by Michaela Kathleen2 views·Updated Apr 23, 2021
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  1. Hello we are presenting on sexuality in the older adult
  2. by Michaela Barbara, Megan and morgan.
  3. Yeah, we chose this topic because we see that there
  4. is a common misconception in the older adult aging and
  5. the sexual desire in libido decreasing.
  6. There are many health benefits to maintaining a healthy sex
  7. life not only physically but also mentally.
  8. It is important as nurses that we recognize that this
  9. is not a normal aging process so that we can
  10. remove the stigma of older adults and sexual health to
  11. be able to talk to them and assess them to
  12. educate them.
  13. And also to be able to recognize if there is
  14. sexual abuse happening in an older adult, especially that cannot
  15. take care of themselves because they are either physically or
  16. cognitively impaired.
  17. Oh, hi, this is Barbara, I'll be talking about the
  18. background and problem assessment.
  19. There are many normal and pathological changes of sexuality.
  20. Of the older adult dysfunction may cause psychological distress.
  21. There are many factors that impact older adult sex life
  22. such as environment, dysfunction, cognitive function comorbidities and higher risk
  23. for stds due to the lack of sexual health education
  24. for their age group, diabetes, cardiovascular cancerous and chronic respiratory
  25. diseases. And also some medications can reduce sexual capacity and
  26. desire, in particular, resulting in negative impact on the quality
  27. of elderly sexual life comorbidities may make it difficult to
  28. be aroused you to erectile dysfunction in males or vaginal
  29. dryness, and females comorbidities may also make it difficult for
  30. the patient due to having a poor body image, perhaps
  31. because of a mastectomy, having a colostomy bag, or even
  32. difficult to maneuver due to a physical ailment caused by
  33. paralysis, perhaps by a stroke.
  34. During assessments, it is useful to hope to use open
  35. ended questions, such as can you tell me how you
  36. express your sexuality or how has sexuality changed as you
  37. have aged, barriers to sexual health should be assessed.
  38. This can be achieved by gathering information from the patient's
  39. health history, review of symptoms and physical exam medications they
  40. take psychological problems such as depression and also having a
  41. poor body image.
  42. So now that we've been able to establish a background
  43. of dealing with sexuality in the geriatric population.
  44. Um and we've been able to establish different strategies and
  45. interventions that we can do as nurses to help improve
  46. the sex life in older adults.
  47. Um, some of the ideal outcomes that we would like
  48. to see in the geriatric population is that they will
  49. be able to discuss their fears as well as any
  50. personal barriers they may have to sexuality and or their
  51. sexual desire, whether that maybe um psychological distress, such as
  52. overcoming grief, any comorbidities that one may have, um as
  53. well as physical immobility as well as other um health
  54. issues that when they have that contributes to decreased sexual
  55. desire, such as cardiovascular concerns or dealing with cancer or
  56. chronic respiratory diseases.
  57. Um So having the patient being able to discuss the
  58. fears that they may have in relation to their comorbidities.
  59. In addition, we would like to see patients in the
  60. geriatric population, they'll be able to express personal satisfaction with
  61. regard to their own sexuality, meaning that um a patient
  62. is able to acknowledge the barriers, the barriers they may
  63. have, but also being able to overcome them and with
  64. the circumstances that they're dealing with, they still find satisfaction
  65. in their sex life and sexuality.
  66. Lastly, um we would like to see patients will be
  67. able to understand how to manage their own mental health
  68. to maintain healthy sexual function.
  69. Whether that be they can identify triggers a depression, signs
  70. and symptoms of anxiety and learning um proper and healthy
  71. coping mechanisms to overcome um mental health stress uh so
  72. that they can live a healthier life and enjoy sexual
  73. function. Uh huh.
  74. Yeah. Numerous interventions and strategies may be applied to promote
  75. the sexual health in the geriatric population.
  76. Education focused on changes that may occur as older adults
  77. age how they manage their health in order to maintain
  78. healthy sexual function.
  79. Sexual education and special interventions for those who are cognitively
  80. impaired, assisting clients to compensate for normal aging changes such
  81. as vaginal dryness and see emails which can be treated
  82. with water based lubricants or topical estrogen agents for males,
  83. educate that increased length of time for ejaculation or erections
  84. are normal changes in aging, which there are medications that
  85. can help determine stressors and develop individualized plans for clients
  86. regarding their fears and concerns surrounding their sexual health, educate
  87. clients to plan for more time during these activities.
  88. Be sensitive to changes in each other's bodies and using
  89. various AIDS, like lubrication and erectile dysfunction medications encourage clients
  90. to have a healthy diet, get adequate amounts of sleep,
  91. have a regular exercise regimen, you stress management techniques and
  92. avoid smoking to improve sexual health, develop a therapeutic safe
  93. and trusting environment So clients feel comfortable to talk about.
  94. A topic that may be difficult to discuss recognizing the
  95. sexual needs of older adults is essential to the ongoing
  96. dialogue about sexual problems.
  97. Encourage clients to discuss underlying disease processes that may be
  98. contributing to their sexual dysfunction, from management of blood glucose
  99. levels to appropriate treatments for depression.
  100. Effective management of both acute and chronic illnesses that impair
  101. sexual health is important.
  102. There are many drugs that have sexual side effects.
  103. So educating clients on various medications available for their condition
  104. can help with their sexual health.
  105. Nurses must practice cultural competence, noting cultural, social, ethnic, racial
  106. and religious factors that may contribute to complex regarding variant
  107. social practices.
  108. Nurses must effectively assess and develop interventions to manage the
  109. sexual health needs of aging adults with the same consistency
  110. as other bodily systems to ensure these individuals are getting
  111. all of their needs met and are getting optimal care.
  112. In conclusion, we have talked about how it is a
  113. common misconception that the elderly population loses interest in sex.
  114. However, it is important that even in the later stages
  115. of life, they are educated and supported to promote sexual
  116. health. Where should we go ahead?
  117. It is important as nurses that we recognize the disconnection
  118. between the misconception of sexual desire decreasing and the sexual
  119. needs of older adults, meaning that we need to develop
  120. interventions to help enhance sexual health with some of those
  121. interventions that Megan previously talked about.
  122. It is important that we also increase the awareness and
  123. understanding of sexuality in geriatric patients so that we can
  124. normalize talking to them and assessing them in order for
  125. them to maintain a healthy sex life.
  126. Thank you for listening to our presentation on sexuality in
  127. the older adult by Michaela, Barbara, Megan and morgan.